Fabric with floating yarn having internal connecting elements

ABSTRACT

A woven fabric having yarns which float, and fibers of the yarns which form connecting elements of the main bodies of yarns interlaced in the second direction of the fabric.

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates to fabrics having internal connecting elements to help stabilize the fabric construction.

[0002] Many methods have been used to stabilize the construction of a knit or woven fabric. Coatings have been applied to prevent the yarns from moving. However, coatings alone may not give the fabric the additional desired characteristics. Recently, a process known as hydroentanglement has been employed to provide stabilization to woven fabrics. Hydroentanglement uses fluid jets to force fibers extending from the main body of a yarn to entangle with fibers extending from the main body of another yarn. However, hydroentanglement can sometimes affect the aesthetic characteristics of the fabric due to the large number of free fibers needed to create entanglements by the fluid jets. Therefore, there is a need for fabrics that have been stabilized by other methods, and the particular methods for stabilizing the fabrics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003]FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a fabric with floating yarns incorporating the present invention.

[0004]FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of a needle for use in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0005] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a fabric 10 illustrating one embodiment of the present invention. The fabric 10 is a woven fabric having a first side 101 and a second side 102. The fabric 100 is formed of a first set of yarns, or warp yarns 110, and a second set of yarns, or fill yarns 120 interlaced to form the fabric 100. The warp yarns 110 form warp yarn first side floats 106 on the first side 101 of the fabric 100, and warp yarn second side floats 107 on the second side 102 of the fabric 100. The fill yarns 120 form fill yarn first side floats 108 on the first side 101 of the fabric 100, and fill yarn second side floats 109 on the second side 102 of the fabric 100.

[0006] The warp yarns 110 comprise warp yarn fibers 111 which form a warp yarn main body 112. As used herein, the main body of a yarn shall mean the group of fibers of a yarn that are oriented in substantially the same direction as the yarn itself. The fill yarns 120 also are comprised of fill yarn fibers 121 which form a fill yarn main body 122. Warp yarn connecting elements 113 are formed by portions of the warp yarn fibers 111 projecting into the fill yarn main body 122 and/or between the fill yarn main body 122 of more than one fill yarns 120. Similarly, fill yarn connecting elements 123 are formed by a portion of fill yarn fibers 121 projecting into the warp yarn main body 112 and/or between the warp yarn body 112 of more than one warp yarns 110. The warp yarn connecting elements 113 are secured to the fill yarn 120 by the fill yarn fibers 121 of the fill yarn main body 122. Likewise, the fill yarn connecting elements 123 are secured by the warp yarn fibers 111 of the warp yarn main body 112. The warp yarn connecting elements 113 provide extra securement of the warp yarns 110 in the fabric 100 above the preexisting securement provided by the interlacing of the warp yarns 110 and the fill yarns 120. Likewise, the fill yarn connecting elements 123 provide extra securement of the fill yarns 120 in the fabric 100 in addition to the securement provided by the interlacing of the warp yarns 110 with the fill yarns 120. These types of connections contrast with connections formed between yarns by the entanglement of fibers extending generally outward and at least partially radially from one yarn with the fibers extending in a direction generally outward and at least partially radially from another yarn, as experienced with many of the hydroentangled methods of treating a fabric.

[0007] The connecting elements (warp yarn connecting elements 113 and fill yarn connecting elements 123) exist in the yarns as they float in the fabric. Therefore, the connecting elements assist to secure the warp yarn first side floats 106 and the fill yarn first side floats 108 on the first side 101 of the fabric 100, and also to secure the warp yarn second side floats 107 and the fill yarns second side floats 109 to the second side 102 of the fabric 100.

[0008] The fabric 100 is a fabric having floats, such as a basket weave, twill weave, satin weave, or any other style of weaving which creates a pattern in which at least one of the yarns from a set of yarns extends over three or more yarns from the other set of yarns. Examples of weave patterns suitable for the fabric 100 include basket weave, twill weave, sateen weave, fabrics woven by the dobby process which creates floats, fabrics formed by the jackard process which creates floats, or any other similar fabric in which a floating yarn is created. The fabric 100 can have yarns which float from 3 to 20 of the yarns in the other set of the yarns. In a preferred embodiment, the fabric 100 will have yarns which float from 3 to 9 of the yarns in the other set.

[0009] In one embodiment, the yarns forming the fabric 100 have a yarn size from about 100 denier to about 1200 denier. In one preferred embodiment, the yarn forming the fabric 100 has a yarn size from about 150 denier to about 750 denier. In one preferred embodiment, the fibers forming the warp yarn fibers 111 and the fill yarn fibers comprise filament fibers, thereby forming multi-filament yarns. In another embodiment, the fibers forming the warp yarn fibers 111 and the fill yarn fibers 121 are staple fibers such that the warp yarns 110 and the fill yarns 120 are spun yarns. In yet another embodiment, the warp yarn 110 can comprise spun yarns, and the blister yarn 120 can comprise filament yarns. It is also contemplated that the present invention will work with yarns of combined filament and staple fiber. The combined filament and stable fiber yarns can be used in the warp yarns 110, and/or the fill yarns 120 as a substitute for either the filament yarns and/or the spun yarns in the above combinations. The fibers of the filament and/or spun yarns in the present invention can be formed from natural or manufactured material. For example, natural materials can include materials of animals, vegetable, or mineral origin which are used as fibers. Manufactured materials can include polymers synthesized from chemical compounds, modified natural materials and minerals, and the like.

[0010] Because of source of connections comes from within the yarns, and the connections also secure the yarns, it is helpful to understand the number of total connections (the total of both connections originating from a particular yarn and the connections secured by that particular yarn) per yarn distance. In one embodiment, the yarns that float in the fabric 100 have a total of from about 0.1 connections per yarn-millimeter to about 5 connections per yarn-millimeter. In a preferred embodiment, the yarns in the area of a float contain a total of from about 0.4 connections per yarn-millimeter to about 2 connections per yarn-millimeter.

[0011] Because the fibers of the yarn are the source of connections, different yarns will have different availability of fibers for the connection, and different needs for the amount of connections based on the fiber content of the yarn. A measurement of filament-distance is a length of yarn having filament(s) multiplied by the number of filament in that yarn bundle. Therefore, it is helpful to understand the number of total connections (total of both connections originated from a particular yarn and the connections secured by that particular yarn) per filament distance of the yarns for the area of a yarn floating in the fabric 100. In one embodiment, in the area of a yarn that is floating, the yarn will have at least about 0.01 connections per filament-inch to about 0.5 connections per filament-inch. In a preferred embodiment, the yarn in the area of a float will have from about 0.04 connections per filament-inch to about 0.2 connections per filament-inch.

[0012] In one method of making the present invention the fabric to be further processed is formed and then subjected to the needling process. In one embodiment, the fabric can be formed by standard weaving techniques, jacquard weaving, dobby weaving, or any other form by which yarns are forced to float in the weave pattern over other yarns of the fabric.

[0013] The formed fabric to be processed is fed into a needling machine that needles the fabric by the insertion of the bed of needles into fabric. Typically, the needle machine inserts the needles into the fabric, and withdraws the needles, at a direction generally perpendicular to the surface of the fabric. Backing plates provide support to the fabric on the opposite side of the needle bed, and has openings to allow the needles to pass completely through the fabric. The needles can be inserted and withdrawn from either side of the fabric, or both sides of the fabric. By inserting the needles from only one side, connections will only be generated by the portion of the yarns on the side of the fabric in which the needles are inserted. If more needle insertions per square area are required than can be provided by a single insertion of the bed of needles, then the bed of needles can be inserted more than once in a particular are of the fabric, or multiple beds of needles can be used to be inserted into the same area. In one embodiment, the needle machine inserts the needles into the fabric in a manner which produces little or no relative motion between the beds of needles and the fabric in a linear direction (the machine direction) as the fabric moves into, through, and exits the needling machine. The relative linear motion between the needle bed and the fabric can be accomplished by moving the needle beds with the direction of travel of the fabric as the needles are inserted into the fabric and removed from the fabric. After the fabric is needled, a back coating can be applied to the fabric by various known methods, such as knife coating, foam coating, combination, spray coating, or other similar methods.

[0014] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged partial view of one embodiment of the needles 200 used in the present invention. The needle 200 has a pointed end 210 and notches 220 along the length of the needle. The pointed end 210 of the needle 200 facilitates the passage of the needle 200 through the yarns of the fabric. The notches 220 of the needle 200 pick up or (hook) fibers of the yarn as the needle 200 passes through the yarns of the fabric. As the needle 200 continues to pass through adjacent yarns, the fibers previously hooked by the notches 220 of the needle 200 are moved into the main body of the adjacent yarns of the fabric. Movement of fibers by the needle 200 will stretch or pull the fibers from the originating yarns. For fibers with free ends near the needle 200, the fiber will follow the notch 220 of the needle 200 until the free end of the fiber passes through the notch 220 or the needle 200 reaches the end of its travel, and the fiber is deposited into the adjacent yarn. For other fibers, the fiber will pass into the adjacent yarn until the needle 200 reaches the end of its travel, or the tension in the fiber causes the fiber to come free from the notch 220 or the fiber breaks. The portion of the fiber that follows the needle and becomes free from the needle, or breaks, will deposit that portion of the fiber into the adjacent yarn. The result is a positive movement of a portion of the fibers and/or filaments of the yarn directly into the main body of adjacent yarns, and/or secured between the main body of two adjacent yarns, creating an anchor directly by the main body of the adjacent yarns. The fiber and/or filament secured by the adjacent yarn forms a connection between the yarns of the fabric. In contrast, methods such as hydroentanglement force fibers external to the main body of a yarn to entangle with fibers external to the main body of another yarn, providing a less direct connection between the components. Additionally, hydroentanglement has a limited ability to provide stability to a filament yarn because there are no, or few, free ends of the filaments that can be broken free from the main body of the yarn to entangle with the filaments from other yarns.

EXAMPLE 1

[0015] A fabric was woven with a pattern of warp yarns floating over 5 fill yarns and fill yarns floating over 5 warp yarns. The fabric was woven from 2/300/136 56T polyester filament yarns. The fabric was then subjected to a needling process to form connections between the yarns of the fabric. A Dilo Hyper punch Double Needle Loom (Dilo manufacturing company) was used to needle the fabric with a needling motion that had little to no relative motion in the machine direction between the fabric and the needle bed. The needle beds contained Groz-Beckert F222 needles, which are a triangular needle having six notches (2 per corner edge of the needle). The needle beds were inserted into both sides of the fabric sufficient times that about 300 needle insertions were made per square centimeter of the fabric. The insertion of the needles was to a depth that four of the notches in the needles engaged the fabric. It was found that the needling process resulted in about 0.5 to about 1 connections per yarn-millimeter in the area of the floating portions of the yarns, and from about 0.047 to about 0.093 connections per filament-inch in the float area of the yarns in the fabric.

EXAMPLE 2

[0016] A fabric was formed of the same yarns from Example 1, except for in a pattern having warp yarns floating over 4 fill yarns, and fill yarns floating over 4 warp yarns. The fabric was then subjected to the same needling process as in Example 1 using the same needling equipment and needles. The needle bed was inserted into both sides of the fabric sufficient times that about 300 needle insertions were made per centimeter of the fabric, with the needles being inserted to a depth where four of the notches engaged the fabric. It was found that the process resulted in about 1.16 connections per yarn-millimeter in the area of the yarns that floated in the fabric, and about 0.108 connections per filament-inch in the same area.

EXAMPLE 3

[0017] A fabric was formed from the same yarns as in Example 1, except for with a pattern having warp yarns floating over 3 fill yarns, and fill yarns floating over 3 warp yarns. The fabric was then subjected to the same needling process as in Example 1 using the same needling equipment and needles. The fabric was needled into both sides of the fabric sufficient times that about 300 needle insertions were made per square centimeter of the fabric, with the needles being inserted to a depth where four of the notches engaged the fabric. The process resulted in about 1.88 connections per yarn-millimeter in the floating area of the yarns, and about 0.175 connections per filament-inches in the same area. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A woven fabric comprising: a set of first yarns disposed in a first direction, each of the first yarns comprising a first yarn main body of a plurality of first yarn filaments; a set of second yarns disposed in a second direction, each of the second yarns comprising a second yarn main body of a plurality of second yarn filaments; wherein the set of first yarns are interlaced with the set of second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the first yarns float over from three to twenty of the second yarns and wherein the first yarns floating over the second yarns have from about 0.01 first yarn connections per filament-inch to about 0.5 first yarn connections per filament-inch, the first connections being first yarn filaments extending from the first yarn into the second yarn main body of an adjacent second yarn and second yarn filaments extending into the first yarn main body of the first yarn floating over the second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the second yarns float over from three to twenty of the first yarns and wherein the second yarns floating over the first yarns have from about 0.01 second yarn connections per filament-inch to about 0.5 second yarn connections per filament-inch, the second yarn connections being second yarn filaments extending from the second yarn into the first yarn main body of an adjacent first yarn and first yarn filaments extending into the second yarn main body of the second yarn floating over the first yarns.
 2. The woven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the first yarn connections with each first yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.04 first yarn connections per filament-inch to about 0.2 first yarn connections per filament-inch.
 3. The woven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the second yarn connections with each second yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.04 second yarn connections per filament-inch to about 0.2 second yarn connections per filament-inch.
 4. The woven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the first yarns further comprise staple fibers.
 5. The woven fabric according to claim 4, wherein the second yarns further comprise staple fibers.
 6. A woven fabric comprising: a set of first yarns disposed in a first direction, each of the first yarns comprising a first yarn main body of a plurality of first yarn filaments; a set of second yarns disposed in a second direction, each of the second yarns comprising a second yarn main body of a plurality of second yarn fibers; wherein the set of first yarns are interlaced with the set of second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the first yarns floats over from three to twenty of the second yarns and wherein the first yarns floating over the second yarns have from about 0.01 connections per filament-inch to about 0.5 connections per filament-inch, the connections being first yarn filaments extending from the first yarn into the second yarn main body of an adjacent second yarn and second yarn fibers extending into the first yarn main body of the first yarn floating over the second yarns.
 7. The woven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the connections between each first yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.04 connections per filament-inch to about 0.2 connections per filament-inch.
 8. The woven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the first yarns further comprise staple fibers.
 9. The woven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise filament fibers.
 10. The woven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 11. The woven fabric according to claim 6, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 12. A woven fabric comprising: a set of first yarns disposed in a first direction, each of the first yarns comprising a first yarn main body of a plurality of first yarn fibers; a set of second yarns disposed in a second direction, each of the second yarns comprising a second yarn main body of a plurality of second yarn fibers; wherein the set of first yarns are interlaced with the set of second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the first yarns float over from three to twenty of the second yarns and wherein the first yarns floating over the second yarns have from about 0.1 first yarn connections per yarn-millimeter to about 5 first yarn connections per yarn-millimeter, the first connections being first yarn fibers extending from the first yarn into the second yarn main body of an adjacent second yarn and second yarn fibers extending into the first yarn main body of the first yarn floating over the second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the second yarns float over from three to twenty of the first yarns and wherein the second yarns floating over the first yarns have from about 0.1 second yarn connections per yarn-millimeter to about 5 second yarn connections per yarn-millimeter, the second yarn connections being second yarn fibers extending from the second yarn into the first yarn main body of an adjacent first yarn and first yarn fibers extending into the second yarn main body of the second yarn floating over the first yarns.
 13. The woven fabric according to claim 12, wherein the first yarn connections with each first yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.4 first yarn connections per yarn-millimeter to about 2 first yarn connections per yarn-millimeter.
 14. The woven fabric according to claim 12, wherein the second yarn connections with each second yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.4 second yarn connections per yarn-millimeter to about 2 second yarn connections per yarn-millimeter.
 15. The woven fabric according to claim 12, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise filament fibers.
 16. The woven fabric according to claim 15, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise filament fibers.
 17. The woven fabric according to claim 15, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 18. The woven fabric according to claim 15, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 19. The woven fabric according to claim 12, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 20. The woven fabric according to claim 19, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 21. The woven fabric according to claim 19, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 22. The woven fabric according to claim 12, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 23. The woven fabric according to claim 22, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 24. A woven fabric comprising: a set of first yarns disposed in a first direction, each of the first yarns comprising a first yarn main body of a plurality of first yarn fibers; a set of second yarns disposed in a second direction, each of the second yarns comprising a second yarn main body of a plurality of second yarn fibers; wherein the set of first yarns are interlaced with the set of second yarns; and wherein a plurality of the first yarns floats over from three to twenty of the second yarns and wherein the first yarns floating over the second yarns have from about 0.1 connections per yarn-millimeter to about 5 connections per yarn-millimeter, the connections being first yarn fibers extending from the first yarn into the second yarn main body of an adjacent second yarn and second yarn fibers extending into the first yarn main body of the first yarn floating over the second yarns.
 25. The woven fabric according to claim 24, wherein the connections between each first yarn floating over a second yarn is from about 0.4 connections per yarn-millimeter to about 2 connections per yarn-millimeter.
 26. The woven fabric according to claim 24, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise filament fibers.
 27. The woven fabric according to claim 26, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise filament fibers.
 28. The woven fabric according to claim 26, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 29. The woven fabric according to claim 26, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 30. The woven fabric according to claim 24, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 31. The woven fabric according to claim 30, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple fibers.
 32. The woven fabric according to claim 30, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 33. The woven fabric according to claim 24, wherein the first yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers.
 34. The woven fabric according to claim 33, wherein the second yarn fibers comprise staple and filament fibers. 